Namibian President Hage Geingob has died on the age of 82 whereas receiving medical remedy at a hospital within the capital, Windhoek.
A veteran of the nation's independence wrestle, Mr Geingob had been identified with most cancers and revealed the main points to the general public final month.
He died early Sunday along with his spouse and kids by his facet, Vice-President And this Mbumba introduced
Namibia “has misplaced… a distinguished servant of the folks”, he stated.
In keeping with the structure, Mr Mbumba will now act as president as there was lower than a yr left for Mr Geingob's second time period. The presidential and parliamentary elections have been already scheduled for November.
The precise reason for the president's dying was not given, however final month he underwent “a brand new two-day remedy for most cancers cells” in the US earlier than returning dwelling on January 31, his workplace had stated
In Namibian radio, folks paid tribute to what they described as a visionary and jovial man, who knew learn how to share a joke.
World leaders have despatched messages of condolence with many talking of Mr Geingob's efforts to safe his nation's independence.
Amongst them was Cyril Ramaphosa, president of neighboring South Africa, who described him as “an imposing veteran of the liberation of Namibia from colonialism and apartheid”.
Mr. Geinbob, a tall man with a deep, gravelly voice and a commanding presence was a longtime member of the Swapo occasion. He led the motion towards apartheid South Africa, which had successfully annexed the nation, then generally known as South West Africa, and launched its system of legalized racism that excluded blacks from political energy and financial
Mr. Geinbob lived in exile for 27 years, spending time in Botswana, the US and the UK, the place he studied for a PhD in politics.
He returned to Namibia in 1989, a yr earlier than the nation gained independence.
“Wanting again, the journey to construct a brand new Namibia is price it,” he wrote on social media in 2020 whereas sharing a photograph of him kissing the earth upon his return.
“Though now we have made numerous progress within the improvement of our nation, there may be extra work to construct an inclusive society.”
Geingob turned president in 2015 and was in his second and closing time period.
He had already been the nation's longest-serving prime minister – in workplace for 12 years from 1990 after which once more for a shorter time in 2012.
However going by the outcomes on the poll field, his reputation had declined.
Within the 2014 elections, he received a big majority, taking 87% of the votes. However 5 years later it had fallen to 56%.
Mr Geingob's first time period coincided with a stagnant economic system and excessive ranges of unemployment and poverty, based on the World Financial institution.
His occasion additionally confronted a variety of corruption scandals throughout his time in workplace. This included what turned generally known as “fishrot”, the place ministers and senior officers have been accused of taking bribes in change for the allocation of profitable fishing quotas.
In 2021, three quarters of the inhabitants thought the nation was going within the flawed path, a threefold enhance from 2014, based on the unbiased polling group Afrobarometer.
Three a long time after independence, the heroic narrative of Swapo that liberated the nation is shedding its enchantment amongst a era born after the occasion, wrote in 2021 Henning Melber, a long-time observer of Namibian politics.
Swapo, in energy since independence, had chosen Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah as its presidential candidate for the deliberate November elections.
She is presently the deputy prime minister, and can turn out to be the nation's first feminine president if she wins.
